Black Out Confessions
by Itdoesringabell
Summary: Post 4x17 kind of AU. Dan, Vanessa and the NJBC are stuck together. No one is dating no one but small hint of Dair.


**_I started writing this on Friday and I wanted to post it before the season finale._**

**_I remembered that there was a time when I actually liked each of the character in this show, so I don't know, I thought bringing them back together like that would be nice._**

**_This is post 4x17 with a hint of Dair_**

**_As usual, sorry for the mistakes and enjoy!_**

* * *

"That's it. I'm outta here."

Dan started walking toward the elevator when Serena said:

"Me too"

"What are you out of? You live here" Nate replied annoyed by Serena's drama queen act.

"Not for long" she said. "I'm tired of living with a jealous manipulative bitch."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand the sentences you pronounce without a married man's name in it. It's too unusual." Blair rolled her eyes.

"Well you made out with Humphrey, so you should be familiar with unusual by now." Chuck snapped back.

Blair opened her mouth to answer with a biting remark but she was interrupted by the light of her living room trembling. Three seconds later, everything became dark.

"The fuck?" Nate said.

"It's a black out, genius." Serena told him.

"Shit" Dan said pushing frenetically the elevator button.

"Humphrey, being from Brooklyn, you are probably not used to modern technology but the elevator doesn't work without electricity" Blair said.

"I have to get outta here" Dan said ignoring her remark.

"There must be stairs somewhere" Vanessa thought out loud.

"God, this last minute during which you didn't talk was the best time of my life" Serena's eyes narrowed at her. "Please be nice and keep shutting up."

"I can't believe you brought me here" Vanessa told Dan.

"And I should've never accepted you lame attempt for us being friends again" Dan replied "Blair. Where are the stairs?"

"In the kitchen. But Dorota probably locked it after leaving tonight."

"Why would she do that?" Nate asked.

"Well it's the service stairs. And as much as I know, none of us are service right? Humphrey and Abrams might come close to it, but still."

"Are you telling us that we're stuck here until the power goes back on?" Chuck asked, starting to lose his calm.

"How perceptive of you to notice it, Chuck! At least now we know why you didn't go to college" Serena said rolling her eyes.

"And none of us here can't still figure out how _you_ got in" Chuck replied.

"Blair, is there any way you keep a spare key somewhere?" Vanessa asked.

"Now, do I really want to help you while I could just go lock myself up in my room with a movie and deny the existence of all of you?"

"Blair" Dan said, his voice holding a warning "Go get us the key."

"I don't wanna" she said crossing childishly her arms.

"I'll tell everyone here a secret about you that I'm the only one to know" he told her.

"Please" moaned Nate "Enough with the Brooklyn-UES sexcapades."

"Eww, I didn't sleep with him!" Blair protested with a grimace.

"So guys, you know that hotel of Chuck…" Dan started.

"HUMPHREY!" Blair shouted, interrupting him. "There is no spare key okay?"

"You told him about that? You told Humphrey about that?" Chuck seemed incredulous, and a bit taken aback.

"Well, there wouldn't have been anything to tell me if you hadn't done it, ass." Dan told him.

"What did he do?" Serena asked curiously, always in for a gossip.

"It doesn't matter" Blair hastily replied. "We're all stuck here okay?"

"What are we going to do?" Nate asked. "This is actually the worst time ever for all of us to be stuck together."

They all went mute, getting lost in their angry minds. Finally, Blair sighed.

"Well I guess as the soon-to-be only hostess here, I should come up with a pleasant activity. What about a movie?" she said. "My computer's battery should last long enough."

"Sure" Serena shrugged. "What do you have?"

"I bought the DVD of _L'Auberge Espagnole _yesterday" Blair suggested.

"No!" Dan firmly protested. "No more Cédric Kaplisch"

"How come you always hate the best directors?" Vanessa asked him.

"I don't hate the best directors. Just the French ones."

"Humphrey!" Blair gasped. "Don't you have no sensibility? Cédric Kaplisch is tremendously modern and avant-garde. Everything he does is refreshing"

"I agree with her on this one." Vanessa nodded.

"Please!" Dan said looking up "All he does is…"

He was interrupted by the combined moans of Chuck, Nate and Serena.

"Hey cultured people" Nate told them "In case if you were wondering, we don't care about you Italian movies."

"We need alcohol" Chuck said. "And perhaps some mushrooms"

"No way. We'll actually kill each other at the first sip" Vanessa said.

"I think I agree with Chuck on the alcohol" Serena shrugged

"Of course you do." Nate and Blair told her in unison.

"Fine, let's just all wait the end of this thing each on our own side without talking to each other" Chuck said walking to Blair's kitchen. "I am getting my alcohol."

"Get me a bottle of red" Serena said, following him.

"Yeah, whisky for me" Nate said, giving in. "Cyrus probably hides a bottle somewhere."

"Fine" Blair threw her arms in the air, walking to the kitchen too "White wine for me. Gets faster to the brain."

Vanessa turned to Dan.

"Do you think there's a chance of Blair Waldorf having beer in her fridge?"

"Pigs would be flying by now" Dan answered "Let's live up to their standards and look for some bourbon."

In a matter of minutes, they all had the bottles sitting on the coffee table while they all sat on the couches and chairs around it in the dark living room with full glasses in their hands. None of them talked, probably thinking about how unexpectedly strange this night had gotten. It was spring, and Blair had decided to host charity soirée where she had invited all of her friends. She wanted to show that she was the bigger person by inviting them. They wanted to show that they were the bigger person by showing up.

The news of Dan and Blair kissing had shaken everyone. None of them was sure about the world they thought they knew anymore. None of them knew really what the future held. It came to light that they were all changing, and that their relationship with each other weren't as eternal as they thought it was.

"Guys" Dan said.

It dragged all the others out of their toughts and they all looked at him.

"Guys, don't you think that we should use this time apart from the world to sort things out?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked

"Think about it. We are all here, and we are all mad at each other for obvious _and also_ for foggy reasons."

"So you're saying that we should just tell each other what's bugging us?" Nate asked?

"Classic Humphrey group therapy session" Vanessa chuckled.

Dan's suggestion reminded her of when they were little and that Rufus sat them down and forced them to solve an argument by talking.

"I mean there was a time when we were all friends, right?" Dan continued

"Was there?" Chuck asked.

It wasn't sarcastic. He was truly trying to remember a time when he felt at peace and there was no trouble between him and his friends.

"Yeah" Dan's tone was affirmative. "I mean it might have been brief, and it might not have happened since about two years. But yes. I believe there was."

They all thought for a moment. Serena looked at Blair. Yes, she was mad at her. But Blair was also part of her best memories. Like when they were younger and trying to learn how to kiss on a pillow. She smiled. How embarrassing.

"You know" Blair was the first to speak "When I was in therapy for my bulimia I had some group sessions."

"You were bulimic?" Vanessa asked, surprised. "I thought it was just a rumor."

Blair looked at her, defiant.

"My sister was too. I'm sorry you had to go through that" Vanessa said.

She was sincere, and Blair's glare softened. She nodded in appreciation.

"Well, at the beginning of each group sessions, we had to say something that made us feel vulnerable once in our lives. Something that made us feel weak. Useless."

"Rufus did that" Dan and Vanessa said.

They turned to each other with a shy smile. They both felt some leftovers of their friendship crawl back into them.

All of them went silent again. No one dared speak. They all just looked at each other, waiting for one to make the first step. Finally, Nate sighed:

"I'll go first" he said.

Blair looked at him and realized that Nate was actually the bravest one in the room. He never hid behind his money, his family's reputation, or where he came from. He was honest about who he really was and was never afraid to show it. He coughed in his fist before saying:

"When I was little, I couldn't really perceive the tension between my father and my maternal grandfather. I guess they were fooling me with everybody else. But when my father was arrested, it all came to light. And I realized what my mother had been dealing with for most of her life. And it made me feel sick that I had never been there to help her. So I tried to be a man, and you know, fix everything. For her sake. I never could. And now I see all the pain our situation caused her and I can't believe I couldn't figure it out once."

They all had listened to him without a word. His confession got all of them thinking, especially Chuck. He realized that he couldn't blame Nate for stealing Raina. They obviously connected over their mutual wanting of keeping their family together whereas he couldn't stand being in the same room as his uncle and his mother. And he even betrayed the only family that cared about him. He made a mental note of calling Lily the second the power would be back on.

"I guess I'm not the first" Vanessa said "But I've always been insecure around Serena."

Serena looked at her, surprised, but Vanessa stared down at her glass of bourbon.

"When I came back in the city because I missed Dan too much and that I saw them together, I felt replaced. I know it's silly, but I pretentiously always thought that he would be waiting for me. And the fact that I was wrong slapped me in the face, embodied by a beautiful, perfect blonde. But I moved on, and I found Nate. We got together and it was one of the best relationships I had ever been in. But it didn't last, and eventually, we broke up. But we remained friends, and I was grateful for that. And then he started dating Serena, and even though I had moved on, I couldn't help it, I was jealous. I never really showed it, but I was. And to this feeling added the one that I was betraying Dan. I was with him, I had gotten what I wanted, and so I had no right to feel this way about Nate and Serena. But I realized that I had Dan, and that was all that mattered."

She looked up and her eyes were humid. She turned to Dan and looked at him fiercely.

"So last September, when I told you that I wasn't the one who had started the rumor about Serena having STDs and that you chose to believe Juliet, I hated you so much. We've been friends our whole lives, Dan, and I _begged _you to believe me when I said that I didn't frame that girl I knew was so important to you, and you chose to believe someone that you barely knew over me. It made me feel worthless. I wanted to hurt you the same way you hurt me. That's why I enlisted in Juliet's plan."

Dan couldn't take his eyes away from her. He was realizing how much they all had hurt Vanessa even when they didn't want to. And right at this moment, he also realized how many people he had let down. So he decided to take the first step to make things right.

"That night, when Eric told me what had happened between Jenny and Chuck, I was actually disgusted with myself" he said "Because she was my Jenny, I still saw her as a little girl. A little girl that I had stopped protecting. She had had a rough year. New home, new status at school, she actually always had to prove herself. If I had been there for her, I would've been able to tell her that none of this things mattered as long as she still had me. As long as I remember, Jenny has always needed me. And whether it was to open a jam jar or to let her sleep in my bed when there was a storm or when she had a nightmare, I was always there for her. And I also remember wishing in those moments that she would always need me this way. And she did. I was the one who stopped being there for her. Chuck didn't take advantage of Jenny. I was the one who let her down. Because if I hadn't, she would have felt the need to go to me, and not him. She would've known that no matter what happened she could always count on me. I tried to fix it, afterward. I tried to put myself back into the role I was supposed to play in her life. But it was too late. She had grown up. She didn't need me anymore. I hate myself for letting that happen. And sometimes, I realize that I'm the one who needs her, but I can't get her out of the life she's built herself. So I just take what I deserve and leave her be."

Listening to Dan made Serena think of Eric's action five years before. She felt grateful that she had had the opportunity to be his big sister again.

"So, three down, three to go" Nate said "Are we sure we want to listen to them? I'm scared of Chuck confessing a murder while having too much SM fun"

They laughed and Chuck feigned trying to check in his mind for a similar story to tell.

"I don't see why you all get to complain about how terrible you are and not us" Serena said, pouring herself another glass of wine.

"Yes, but the three of you probably have a lot to tell on this subject, I'm not sure we'll make it the night" Dan teased her.

"Very funny Humphrey" Serena replied. "I will tell you something, but first, bottoms up everyone!"

They all followed her and drank the entire content of their glasses. Serena put her fist in front of her mouth afterward and burped. And the other moaned in disgust.

"Please marry me" Dan told her sarcastically.

"Careful" Nate said "Vanessa might actually kill her this time"

"Nate, tell me the answer to six times seven" Vanessa asked.

"Forty-six…no wait, fifty-two?" Nate seemed to be thinking so hard it made all the others laugh.

"Alright" he said "You burnt me" he then told Vanessa.

"I've laughed too much" Serena said "I'm never going to be able to tell my story now"

"You have to!" Blair told her.

"Why don't you go first, Blair?" Chuck suggested. "It might put Serena back in the mood."

Blair pushed out a deep sigh.

"Fine" she said and then turned to Chuck "But don't think you'll get out of it, too."

Blair refilled her glass.

"So my story will be about my father, too. I love him. I love him so much. But I sometimes can't help but hate him for what he did to my mother and me. People always say that he did what was best, that he couldn't go on lying to us and lying to himself. But sometimes, I feel like what he did wasn't accepting who he was. Sometimes I feel like all he did was abandoning his role as a father and as a husband. He knew how hard life was for me at that time. My best friend had inexplicably left town. My boyfriend and I were slowly growing apart. My grades weren't at their best at school and I kept fighting with my mother. And still, he left. I didn't want to hate _him_ so I kind of rejected all I felt on others. On my mom, on Serena, on Nate. Even Dorota sometimes. Oh poor Dorota."

Nate laughed because clear memories of that time were coming back to him. Blair had been unbearable.

"And someday I realized that it was up to me to make that his decisions didn't affect my life. So I took control, and…basically that was the end of all of you."

They all laughed along with her. Some refilled their glasses, others settled more comfortably.

"I guess it's my turn" Serena said. "Okay, I really, really felt vulnerable when I woke up in the hospital after the car accident with Trip. It was as if my life had been a succession of bad decisions that led me laying there, facing no one but myself. That was when I realized that passion wasn't everything. You need to think, sometimes. And so I started thinking, why would I ever get involved with a married man at nineteen? Why aren't I in college? If I had been, none of this would have happened. Then I saw how worried you guys were. Because Dan was right, there was a time when we were all friends. You were all there the day it happened. None of you asked anything, you were just grateful that I was okay. I realized that it wasn't just about me. In life, you meet people; you live with them because they're your family or because you choose to. And when you start living with those people, you engage yourself in a sort of cosmic contract. You can't just ignore the fact that they care about you, and that seeing you hurt _will_ hurt them. What really baffled me is that I hadn't even had this epiphany when Eric tried to kill himself. It only came to me when _I was_ the one hurt. It made me see how selfish I actually was."

No one talked after that. Of course Serena's confession had got them thinking, but they were also waiting for Chuck to say something. He was aware of that fact, but still remained silent.

"Chuck…" Blair said softly.

"Here's what I'm going to do" he said. "I'm going to say two words. And after I pronounce them, I would like for all of you to just leave it there, because the first and last person I was able to talk about it with further is now dating my best friend."

Nate took a long sip of bourbon.

"Elizabeth Fisher" Chuck said.

All of them nodded and did just what he asked. They didn't push it further.

"So" Nate said "What's next?"

"I don't know" Blair said "The others steps of my group therapy aren't adapted to our situation."

"Rufus would suggest that we apologize" Dan said. "He would say that it gives us grandeur and modesty or something like that."

"Well that should be easier to do now" Serena said sarcastically. "How do we do that?"

"We should just go with the same order as for the confessions" Vanessa suggested.

They all turned to Nate.

"Great" he mumbled "Well Vanessa, I'm sorry for ending things like I did three years ago. One of my biggest asshole moments. Blair, I'm sorry for cheating on you with your best friend, that was a low move. But come on, have you seen her ass?"

Only Serena didn't laugh. Instead, she shook her head in disapproval.

"Serena, I'm sorry for not understanding that you and Dan had a profound history and getting jealous. Dan, I'm sorry for trying to keep you and Serena apart last summer. And Chuck…I'm sorry for stealing your girlfriend."

"Can't blame you" Chuck told him. "Have you seen that ass?"

The alcohol made everything funnier so it took them a while to stop giggling at his remark.

"Okay, my turn" Vanessa said "Serena…"

"No need to apologize" Serena interrupted her. "Really, it's already forgiven."

Vanessa smiled at her.

"Then I'm sorry for not trying harder to be your friend. Dan, Nate, I'm sorry for letting my pride cost us our friendship. Blair, I'm sorry for refusing to see that there was more to you than you collection of Vivier heels and Chuck…well I've never done anything to you, have I?"

"Depends in which context" Chuck said with a smirk.

Vanessa bristled at the memory of the two of them in bed. Twice.

"I guess it's me now" Dan said. "Well, Serena…wow, where do I start with Serena?"

"Sorry for secretly hanging out with my best friend would be nice."

"Ha" Dan chuckled and glanced over at Blair. "For some reason, I don't think there's any apologizing to do on that part, sorry. But I am sorry for letting the differences of our two worlds get between us. Vanessa, I'm sorry for letting other people destroy our friendship and relationship. Chuck, I'm sorry for punching you twice. That was incredibly Jersey Shore of me. Nate, I'm sorry for being the end of you and Serena last year. And Blair…I'm sorry for calling you all the things I've called you over the last four years."

"And what things are they?" Blair asked

"Too many to remember, honestly"

Blair's eyes narrowed on him.

"At least I had the decency to insult you to your face" she told him.

"Yes, you had"

"Fine, then Humphrey, I'm sorry for the same thing, basically. Chuck, Nate, I'm sorry for trying too hard to make our relationships perfect. I should've let them run their course. Serena, I'm sorry for implying how easy you are earlier. And for calling you a prostitute last year. And for revealing that you might have killed a man when we were visiting Yale. And for…"

"Okay Blair! I get it, you're sorry" Serena stopped her.

"And Vanessa, I'm sorry for judging you solely on the fact that you come from Brooklyn."

She had said this through clenched teeth, but Vanessa nodded anyway.

"My turn!" Serena said happily.

The alcohol had obviously got to her.

"Blair, Chuck, Nate, I'm sorry for running away after that incident. I should've come to you. Dan, I'm sorry for the same thing you apologized for. And Vanessa, I'm sorry for not realizing the pain I had caused you."

And again, they all turned to Chuck.

"Honestly, I wouldn't know where to start" he said.

Groans of protest rose in the room.

"Come on, Chuck!" Nate said.

"Alright, alright."

He took another sip from his glass and turned to Blair.

"Blair, I'm sorry for not waiting longer at the Empire State Building last year, and for treating you like property. Nate, I'm sorry for sleeping with Blair all that time ago. Dan, Serena, I'm sorry for the way I hurt your family…our family. And Vanessa, I'm sorry for spanking you too hard that time we had sex."

None of them had expected the last sentence, and Vanessa chocked on her drink.

"No! You said you weren't going to bring this up ever again!" she said

"I lied" Chuck shrugged.

Dan laughed.

"Hey I just realized that the only thing that Vanessa and Blair have in common is doing Chuck Bass"

Blair moaned in disgust.

"Hey" Serena said "That's right! Vanessa's slept with every man in this room, how am I the easy one?"

"Hey" Vanessa protested

"She also had a threesome with her best friend" Nate said.

"Can we stop talking about my sex life, please?" Vanessa was astonished.

"And she is _so vocal!_" Nate continued.

Dan and Chuck nodded in agreement.

"Actually another thing she has in common with Blair" Chuck said.

"Right!" Nate suddenly realized.

"I do not tolerate that!" Blair exclaimed.

"Yeah shut up Nate!" Vanessa growled.

"Take it easy, sex talk is fun" Nate told her.

"Yeah? Well next to Dan, you guys know nothing about foreplay"

Dan blushed a little at the remark and much more when Serena said:

"Right? I mean, it's incredible."

"Oh" Vanessa turned to her "I remember that one time when he…"

"Okay, enough!" Dan said.

"So that's your secret, Humphrey?" Blair asked. "I always wondered how you got all those women to actually sleep with you."

"So you mean to tell me that Dan Humphrey is better than me in bed?" Nate asked. "Well I'm sorry but I refuse to believe that."

"Thanks, man" Dan said, cross.

"Well I didn't say in bed, but at least at foreplay."Vanessa said.

"So I'm still the best sex you've ever had" Nate said with a grin.

Vanessa didn't answer but refilled her glass avoiding looking at Chuck. Of course, everyone noticed it.

"Come on!" Dan exclaimed "Chuck Bass is the best sex you've ever had? How cliché is that?"

"Humphrey, there's always a fundamental fact to a cliché. I'm a sex god. Deal with it."

"I wouldn't say sex god" Blair told him, taking a sip from her glass with a malicious look on her face.

"You've had better than Chuck?" Serena asked surprised.

Blair tried to restrain a smile.

"Well…Carter Baizen…"

"What?" Nate and Chuck said in unison.

"Oh" Serena did, trying to reminisce. "Oh right…oh yes, right!"

"Right?" Blair told her with complicity in her voice.

"That's bullshit" Nate said.

"Oh yes!" Serena did, suddenly remembering

"Hey!" Vanessa said "You guys make me wish I had done it with him!"

Blair and Serena laughed, whereas Dan, Chuck and Nate shook their head in disgust.

"He was so adventurous" Serena said.

"Yes, he was" Blair nodded

"He couldn't be more than I was" Chuck objected.

"I did it with him in an elevator" Serena said.

"Oh I would never do it in an elevator" Vanessa said.

"I would" Dan and Blair both said.

They looked at each other with a curious glare.

"I have" Chuck said "At least three times. What else do you have?"

"Hum, the bathroom at The Empire State Building"

"Check" Nate said.

"The bathroom at the MoMA" Blair said.

"Who hasn't?" Chuck asked rolling his eyes.

"I haven't" Dan said.

They all looked at him surprised.

"Really?" Nate asked "What did you do during the lunch break on the traditional MoMA tour for seniors when we were at St Jude?"

"Well I took advantage of it to check out the José Clemente Orozco exhibit…"

"Awww" Vanessa, Serena and Blair did.

"Tss, gay" Chuck said.

"Yeah, I bet you only pretend to have this artistic fiber just because you know chicks dig it." Nate said pointing at him. "That's why you're good only at foreplays."

"Whatever, man" Dan told him. "I had a threesome with a famous actress."

"That's nothing." Nate told him "I had a threesome with two married women"

"Eww" Blair said.

"I had a threesome with twins. Five times" Chuck said, lifting his glass for a toast to himself.

"That's extremely gross" Serena said.

"I had the ultimate fuck-you fuck" Dan said

"Fuck-you fuck?" Vanessa asked.

"When you have sex in a place or with a person that would piss off someone you hate if they ever found out" Nate explained. "Like when I had sex with Andrew Johnson's mother when he made fun of my father being in prison last year. So Humphrey, spill it."

Dan took the last sip of his drink.

"Alright" he said "Last year, I had sex with Georgina…"

"That's it?" Serena asked.

"Are you kidding us? We all know about that" Nate said "I have pictures of you changing diapers of your illegitimate son with her, remember?"

"I wasn't done talking!" Dan protested. "Last year, I had sex with Georgina Sparks…on Blair's bed."

"WHAT?" Blair exclaimed standing up.

"Oh my God!" Serena said while Nate was trying to kill his laugh with his fist.

"I am going to destroy you, Humphrey" Blair looked at him as if she was ready to rip his skin off.

"Come on, Blair" Chuck said "You've just made amends for everything that you've done to him in the past."

"I didn't hear him apologize for that!" Blair said, fuming.

"I would never apologize for that" Dan answered with a grin on his face.

"Come on, Blair, it's only fair game. You always bullied him back in high school" Serena reminded her.

Seeing that no one was on her side, Blair crossed her arms and sat back down.

"This isn't over" she told Dan.

But he wasn't listening anymore. He seemed lost in his thoughts and a light smile on his lips.

"Is it the memory of sex with Georgina that has you smiling so sweetly?" Serena asked him

"What? Oh, nah." Dan said with melancholia. "I was just wondering how Milo was doing."

"Aw" Serena and Vanessa did, and even Blair's glare on him softened.

"Oh just fuck you Humphrey" Chuck said.

"Yeah, I agree with him" Nate said.

They were laughing when the light fluttered on and the darkness of the room escaped. They had gotten used to it, so they all put their hands in front of their eyes. Vanessa was the first one to stand up.

"I have to go" she said awkwardly "I have a lot of work to do if I wanna get this scholarship for Barcelona."

"You're leaving New York?" Dan asked, standing up too.

She nodded. Dan walked to her and pulled her into a light hug.

"Hey listen; do you wanna catch _Billy Elliott_ at the 78 next week? I might change my mind about movie musicals, who knows?"

Vanessa gave him a warm smile.

"I would love that" she nodded, then turning to Blair.

"Would you like to come with us?"

Blair seemed surprised at first, and then asked:

"Isn't the 78 in Queens?"

"Yes" Dan chuckled.

Blair pursed her lips.

"I suppose I can make an exception."

Dan and Vanessa laughed.

"Well, goodnight everyone" Vanessa said, waving to them.

"Bye Vanessa" Nate said.

"Good luck with your scholarship." Serena told her.

"Thanks" she said, walking toward the elevator with a smile.

When she was gone, Serena stood up with a yawn.

"Well, I'm going to bed" she said.

"So you still live here?" Blair asked her.

"Of course I do" Serena answered, smiling. "Good night guys. Brunch tomorrow?"

"You know it" Nate winked at her.

"I'm going up with you" Blair said "I have to give Humphrey back his New Yorker magazine."

They took the stairs arm in arm and left the boys alone.

"So, what a night, huh?" Nate said.

Chuck and Dan simply nodded.

"I can't believe all we've confessed to each other" Dan said.

"Although Chuck remained extremely vague" Nate said looking at his best friend.

Chuck shrugged and finished his drink.

"What did you want me to say?" he asked them, putting down his glass. "That I'm scared of myself sometimes? Some crap about how the lack of a real family led me to being the cold and shameless person you all know? That I'm scared of ending up alone, counting my money, with no one to share it with? Is that what you wanted?"

Nate and Dan looked at each other, and then back at Chuck.

"Chuck" Nate said with a little smirk.

"You just popped your confession cherry" Dan told him with the same look on his face.

Chuck chuckled, shaking his head.

"Let's go home" he told Nate, standing up.

"Yeah, I think we could use a good night of sleep." Nate said following him.

"We'll see you later, Humphrey" Chuck said walking to the elevator, Nate behind him.

The elevator doors were closing when Blair was coming down the stairs, a New Yorker in her hand.

"Here" she said, handing it to Dan. "Thank you."

"You're welcome" Dan said.

They looked at each other for a while, both smiling lightly. Finally Dan coughed.

"I'm gonna go" he said.

Blair simply nodded. Her face was unreadable to him. He smiled a bit wider and turned around to leave.

"Humphrey" he heard.

He turned back around to see that Blair was standing closer to him, looking him in the eyes. She leaned up on the tip of her toes and pulled him by the shoulders to her. It was the second time he was kissing Blair Waldorf. He responded by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. She parted her lips under his and Dan slowly made his way through them with his tongue, breathing harder when it intertwined with hers.

She broke the kiss for air, and Dan expected her to abruptly walk away from him like the last time. But she didn't. Instead, she looked him in the eyes and placed another kiss on his swollen lips.

"I'll see you later, Humphrey" she said pulling away from him.

He nodded and walked to the elevator. Blair walked with him and stood in front of it when he got inside. They looked at each other and when she smiled to him, he instantly smiled back.

"See you later, Waldorf" he said right before the elevator doors closed between them.


End file.
